The Importance of Water

The image above was shot in Maldives, an island Nation which lies approx. 1200 SE of India and in comprised mostly of water.

The man in the frame is Jon Rose. I am not sure why, but frequently my work tends to be prophetic in nature. This message above is a good example of that.

For those of us who live our lives around the Sea, the significance of water is an ever present issue for us. Life is all about Flow. In fact, one of the groups which I am a member of, Triiibes, just put on a global retreat here in Ventura along the theme of Flow, which held deep significance to all who attended.

When I was on Bali earlier this year, I ran across the story of a man who brought clean water to over 50 villages on Bali which exist in an area with little clean drinkable water. That man had been Jon Rose. He went on to found this organization, Waves for Water.

There is little which is as important as water to man, and this blue ball which he lives on. It is no secret that just as Nations use oil as an economic lever, and go to war over it, there is a looming battle over water rights Globally, Nationally, and yes one is possibly even coming to your own town. You can see it as clearly as a wave headed to shore. Why? Because water is life, and if you control life, you have power.

It is no secret that my little town of Ventura, is getting ready to do the same thing: exercise greater control over water and the fees which it will charge for access to it by local residents. In fact, we have a telltale of the direction in which they plan to go with water. They hired a PR firm for a distinct purpose. Now you may be scratching your head a bit about this. PR firm? What?

Ventura has a history of late, related to our City Manager who was brought in to work here from another town (where he was fairly unpopular) in order to implement a tenet termed Sustainable Urban Redevelopment. That has not gone well for him here. Many of us are ready to run him out of town on a rail over his management track record which has brought the City all manner of wonderful income and personality downgrades, and cost us a fortune in money and Community Unity.

Red light cameras, parking meters, onerous and proacative code enforcement where you need (legally speaking) to pay a permit fee for basic elements of home maintenance, and now this, a threat of radically increased water fees to help offset the massive fiscal loss of all the other programs. My town invited the devil in. They may need to perform an exorcism.

The latest wave looming is in water. Rumor has it that residents will be seeing more increases in water-sewer rates to the tune of a fairly substantial and potentially fiscally debilitating increase, that will serve to both line ailing City coffers as well as milk local residents over the performance of our City Mgr, which is underscored by dire economic times.

But water?

Of course.

Recently I received a letter from the City, advertising a VERY cool film called Flow. Flow is all about the value of water. The film screened here in Ventura at the Ventura Film Society’s festival a couple years back. I am well aware of it, and the dire message it delivers regarding the war for water.

So why is Ventura doing this? How much is 2 plus 2? Why does the City need a PR Firm to “raise awareness about water”? Why are they using the local chapter of Surfrider to help promote it?

Think about that collective of villages on Bali and Jon Rose who helped them.

Now reverse that.

There you have what the City of Ventura and it’s Mgmnt has planned, if one cannot afford to pay the rate increase.

There are a vast amount of undercurrents which surface, and can suck a city into the stream of ill health. In this one you are seeing the affect of an inappropriate Philosophy of Governance which sees Citizens as serfs, bound to provide assets for the Feudal lord to dispose as he sees fit.

Ever hear of the term, Permaculture? Think on the affect of a 100-200 percent increase of water rates for homeowners engaged in permaculture systems, which are thought of by many, as THE preeminent way forward for communities

I would really like to see my City Council fire Rick Cole and his Cronies.

N0 City needs this type of thinking.

And about what they will actually DO with the funds?

“Everybody wants clean water, right?”

In this link penned by a sage Attorney, in a publication Entitled Res Publica, is a very informative look at how water and sewer funds were diverted into other social causes. That is illegal. It was done here in Ventura, by the City Manager.

Repression and bad Govt are frequently behind a green mask these days, or offered in the guise of increased sustainability, health or a benefit of some sort for the Community. But all too often today, it is a mere charade, and is a game of musical chairs done with a veiled but specific intent, to extract funds from a populace, to cover failed economic policies and drying up income streams for Muni Govt.

The image below was shot at the entrance to Downtown Ventura. This is the tone being set here by people not from here. It is NOT the tone of my Community. They are the polar opposite of this. So why invite that in, ever?

Time for a purge.

Time to flush out the corruption in Govt.

It needs to begin where we live.

Water is life. Make it a priority to preserve your water and access to it. Work to keep it clean.

One Response to The Importance of Water

They have a saying out west, where ranches cover thousands of acres and fences are rare, where simple solutions are welcome. You can hear it said, “whiskey is for drinking, water’s for fighting”. California will never return to that culture, its too crowded, but the fight over water has begun. And simple solutions will not be welcome here.